The Spires at Berry College open to all

The Spires at Berry College will hold an Open House Friday, December 8 to show off plans for the next generation of retirement living in Rome. The Open House will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Spires Information Center, 113 Broad Street in downtown Rome.

The Spires is a continuing of care retirement community that is open to anyone. It will be constructed off Redmond Circle near the old Quarry on Berry College property.

The Spires at Berry College, a $130 million complex, will feature a combination of apartments, classic lodge apartments and cottage in its independent living housing section. A health care building will offer housing for memory care patients on the ground level along with rooms for those who need skilled nursing care on the second floor. The third and fourth floor of the building is being earmarked for resident who need some degree of assisted-living.

Berry needs to have 75 percent of the units, again, open to anyone, reserved before construction can begin and is well on the way to meeting that objective. Officials hope to be in a position to break ground in the first half of next year with the first units becoming available in late 2019 or early 2020.

Deadline for Master Gardener training extended

The Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Training Program has scheduled for the first quarter of 2018 however the deadline to sign up for the training is fast approaching. The deadline to apply is Thursday, November 30. There is a $170 fee for the program.

To get an application for the upcoming Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Training Program contact The University of Georgia Floyd County Extension Office at: 706-296-6210 or uge1115@uga.edu.

The program is a county-based volunteer program designed to assist Cooperative Extension with the main goal of addressing community non-commercial, gardening issues and needs.

Training will begin Wednesday, January 10 and continue through Friday, March 16 with classes held every Wednesday and Friday at the Floyd County Extension office from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The program will train and equip volunteers to provide current horticultural information through community service and educational gardening projects using applied research and the resources of the University of Georgia.

The Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home, 501 Riverside Parkway, will host a “Santa’s Workshop” for families and children of all ages at the museum on Saturday, December 16th.

The museum will offer a “Santa’s Workshop” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day. There is a $5 fee for adults however children will receive free admission on that date.

Visitors will be able to tour the museum with its holiday decorations and create Christmas crafts to keep or share. Children will also be able to write a letter to Santa and mail it to the North Pole at the Chieftains Museum Magic Mailbox.

“This event allows Chieftains to give back to the community to show how much we appreciate everyone’s support in 2017,” said Executive Director Heather Shores in a press release. “We look forward to completing new projects and hosting programs in 2018 that will continue to draw new audiences and old friends to the museum campus.” One of these projects includes the Major Ridge Demonstration Garden, an “outdoor classroom” devoted to native agriculture and the history of the Ridge family farm.

For more information on other events at the museum contact the museum at 706-291-9494 or go online to www.chieftainsmuseum.org.